1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fiber-forming melt-spinnable aromatic polyesters and to filaments thereof having high tenacity and modulus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aromatic polyesters that form anisotropic melts which can be melt spun into high modulus filaments capable of being heat-treated to high tenacities and modulus have been disclosed in prior art patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,372. Some aromatic polyesters are intractable and cannot be melt spun using conventional technology. The polyester from hydroquinone and terephthalic acids is in the latter category. Since hydroquinone, resorcinol, isophthalic and terephthalic acids are commercially available and reasonably priced it would be of great advantage if polyesters derived in major part from these reactants were capable of forming optically anisotropic melts which could be melt-spun into high modulus filaments.
6-Hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,470 as a comonomer with 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. It has now been found that small amounts of 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid or a functional derivative thereof may be copolymerized with terephthalic acid and hydroquinone or a functional derivative thereof and either isophthalic acid or resorcinol or a functional derivative thereof to produce polyesters suitable for melt spinning without undue degradation. The melts of these polyesters are optically anisotropic, homogeneous and amenable to processing. Moreover, the filaments from these new polyesters exhibit high modulus and/or high tenacity upon heat treatment.